Please join us on October 15th, 2019 to celebrate and honor champions for paid time to care who have put families first and are changing the game for all of us. Together with thousands of activists across the country, our Game Changer awardees have helped more than 50 million people gain access to paid sick days and family and medical leave insurance – and more wins are on the horizon.

Policy Champions: CT State Sen. Julie Kushner and Rep. Robyn Porter
As the Senate and House Chairs of the Labor and Public Policy Committees, Sen. Kushner and Rep. Porter led the fight for a comprehensive, public paid leave program.

Business Champions: Ben Verhoeven and Kathryn Weeks, owners of Peoria Gardens, a family farm and nursery in Albany, OR. Ben and Kathryn were leaders in the successful campaign to win paid leave in Oregon and ensure it covered everyone, including agricultural workers.

Worker Activists: Margarita del Cid and Marilyn Washington 
These women each helped win paid sick and safe days in a Texas city—Margarita as a leader with Workers Defense Project in Dallas and Marilyn as a leader of the Texas Organizing Project in San Antonio.

Labor Champion: Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
The Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), AFL-CIO is a model for how unions can both build a powerful membership and work closely with community partners.

Community Partner: Caring Across Generations
Bringing together families, caregivers, people with disabilities, and aging Americans to transform the way we care, Caring Across Generations is promoting a bold new policy, Universal Family Care, to address the continuum of care.

Host Committee: Melanie Campbell, Candice Cook Simmons, Yanira Cruz, Adrienne Elrod, Holly Fechner, Pronita Gupta, Karen Nussbaum, Kim Otis, Ai-jen Poo, Will Robinson, Yadira Sanchez, Rinku Sen, Sara Steffens, and Robin Williams​.

Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at 6:00 PM EDT

AFL-CIO Headquarters

Washington DC

This year’s Game Changer Awards will be emceed by Soraya Chemaly, media critic, award-winning writer, and author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger.